Freshman pole vaulter Mary Saxer qualified for next month's NCAA Mideast Regional with a winning leap of 3.80 meters (12-5.5) at Saturday's Miami (Ohio) Invitational. <i>(photo by Matt Cashore)</i>

Irish Post Seven Wins At Miami (Ohio) Invitational

April 8, 2006

Men’s Results | Women’s Results

OXFORD, Ohio – Notre Dame track & field athletes accounted for seven victories and registered five BIG EAST Conference Championship qualifying marks at the 12-team Miami (Ohio) Invitational, which was held Saturday at George Rider Track in Oxford, Ohio. The one-day meet was a scored competition, and although they did not bring close to a full complement of athletes, both the Irish men’s and women’s squads posted solid third-place finishes — the men tallied 113 points, while the women compiled 120 points.

Freshman pole vaulter Mary Saxer (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster Central) became the 15th Notre Dame athlete to qualify for next month’s NCAA Mideast Regional, winning her event with a top clearance of 12-5.5 (3.80 meters), the second-best mark in the BIG EAST this season. That height also ties for the fifth-best performance in school history, matching a pair of efforts by Jaime Volkmer, who came into this year with eight of the top 10 pole vault marks in the Irish record books.

Notre Dame’s throwers had some of the best performances of the day, amassing two wins and seven top-three finishes at the Miami Invitational. Junior Garet Koxlien (Galesville, Wis./Galesville-Ettrick Trempealeau) picked up his second discus title of the outdoor season (and second in as many weeks) with a winning throw of 165-4 (50.39 meters). Likewise, sophomore Kyle Annen (Orofino, Idaho/Orofino) won his second hammer throw crown in two weeks, topping out at 175-3 (53.42 meters). Meanwhile, freshman Anna Weber (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) improved on her conference-qualifying marks in both the hammer throw (third place, 161-0) and shot put (second place, 45-3), with her latter distance ranking fifth in the BIG EAST this season.

On the track, junior Maryann Erigha (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee) won the 200 meters and tied her fastest time of the season at 24.05 seconds, while earning her third individual title of the year (second in the 200). Junior Okechi Ogbuokiri (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro) came in third with a personal-best time of 24.36 seconds, also the second-quickest race in the conference this year. Like Erigha, senior Ryan Postel (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic) collected his third win of the 2006 outdoor campaign, but his first in the 200 meters, which he claimed in 21.67 seconds. Sophomore Brett Adams (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) had the other Irish win, leading the 800-meter field across the line in a victorious time of 1:53.70, just missing out on the BIG EAST qualification standard (1:53.64).

The newest conference qualifiers for Notre Dame came in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase (Elizabeth Philipp – 11:15.02), women’s high jump (Lauren Biscardi – 5-5, 1.65m), men’s 400-meter hurdles (Kellen Lewis – 55.16), men’s discus throw (Jeff Mensch – 140-3, 42.75m) and men’s hammer throw (Mike Schubert – 150-3, 45.80m).

The Irish will field a split squad next week, as a handful of athletes head to Walnut, Calif., April 12-15 for the Mount SAC Relays. The rest of the Notre Dame units will venture to Indianapolis on April 15 for the Indy Relays.

— ND —